Non-spill drinking cups are known and are generally aimed at young children or the infirm who may drop or otherwise spill the contents of an ordinary cup. Many conventional non-spill cups include a closure assembly that incorporate a valve which deforms or moves in response to the generation of a pressure difference across the valve to allow liquid to flow through the valve and out of the cup when a child sucks on a spout. When a child ceases to suck on the spout, the pressure difference is no longer present and so the valve closes to block further flow through the valve, thereby preventing spillage when the cup is dropped, inverted or shaken.
A problem with known non-spill cups is that they do not mimic the technique that is required to drink from an ordinary cup. Therefore the transition to drinking from a conventional non-spill cup to an ordinary cup can be difficult for many children.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a non-spill cup for use by children that is used in a similar way to an ordinary cup and in which the user places the rim of the cup to their mouth and tips or inverts it so that fluid flows out of the cup and into their mouth under gravity, and without any need to generate a pressure differential by sucking.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,020 to provide a toddler drinking vessel. Although the user does not need to suck in order to take a drink from the vessel, they must manually move a lid between open and closed positions to permit and prevent, respectively, the flow of fluid out of the cup. A disadvantage with this cup is that if a user forgets to close the lid after drinking, the contents will be spilt if the cup is knocked over or inverted. Furthermore, a child might not have the strength or ability to manipulate the lid between its open and closed positions each time a drink is required.
Another drinking vessel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,556 B2. Although this cup enables a user to drink from a rim, as with an ordinary cup, it still requires the child to suck in order to open a sealing piece and allow the liquid to flow. Therefore, it does not provide the child with adequate training on how to drink from a conventional cup.
EP 2 138 075 A1 discloses a lid for a liquid container which is used to substantially seal the container. The lid comprises a mounting frame for mounting the lid to the container, the frame having at least one passage opening for passage of the liquid in the container. Furthermore, the lid comprises a valve portion for closing the at least one passage opening of the mounting frame, a lip-operable operating portion for operating the valve portion, and spring means for urging the valve portion to a closing position, in which the at least one passage opening in the mounting frame is closed. The lid is especially intended to be used in combination with a cup filled with hot liquid, so that injuries of a child who tries to grab the cup can be avoided.